PET is a plastic material which is particularly suitable for food packaging applications. This report covers the characteristics and uses of PET, its basic chemistry, safety and toxicology, environmental perspectives, and regulatory considerations.
The ILSI Europe Packaging Materials Task Force has started off in 2000 a series of reports on Packaging Materials. Each report is dedicated to a major type of packaging material and aims at describing all essential aspects of their use to a non-specialised audience. This report was originally published by ILSI HESI in 1993. The first issue of the ILSI Europe Report ‘Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) for Food Packaging Applications’ was published in 2000. PET is a plastic material which has found increasing applications within the packaging field. It is a simple long-chain polymer. Its chemical inertness – especially, together with other physical properties – has made it particularly suitable for food packaging applications. The characteristics and uses of PET, its basic chemistry, safety and toxicology, environmental perspectives, and regulatory considerations are covered in this informative and readily understandable scientific document aimed at describing all essential aspects of the use of PET. While characteristics and basic chemistry of PET described in the report are still valid, the regulatory requirements on the use of PET and recycled PET as food contact material have changed considerably and new scientific data on migration have become available since its publication. The aim of this activity is to integrate recent scientific and regulatory developments on PET in an updated version of the manuscript.
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